T he family feud is a destructive conflict spiral that eliminates any hope of healthy community. The conflict spiral starts when one greedy family gains extra power or prestige, and threatens to use it to abuse others. Other families then seek defensive power to avoid being abused. 90% of these zero-sum game players would not pursue power if they were not threatened in the first place, demonstrating the pointlessness of this conflict spiral. A Meritocratic government that outlaws any kind of dynastic power accumulation will stop the arms race. Only a few die-hard psychopaths will still engage in the conflict, but they will be so impotent that no one else will feel threatened. The conflict spiral will cease.
When a conflict spiral is allowed to develop, it quickly leads to the annihilation of cooperative spirit. A hopeless zero-sum game is born. Families who would otherwise be generous and magnanimous become paranoid and hostile. The family feud is destructive for every family—even the winners—because the wasted energy that is lost to the conflict deprives the entire species of social and technological progress. Instead of enjoying our Star Trek future, we get stuck with a crappy winner-takes-all rat race.
Why not build a community where everyone feels secure enough to contribute to the general good? A Meritocratic government will stop conflict spirals before they start. Do you want to live in a world of perpetual family feud, each family constantly back-stabbing the others? Or would you prefer a world where you can support your own family, but also support your community? A world where you don’t have to worry about the psychopathic few who would put you down to prop themselves up?
